


something more forgivable

by luckybarton



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aurors, Character Death, Death Eaters, Discussion of Torture, Epistolary, Gen, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Politics, Spell Creation (Harry Potter), The Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter) is Terrible, Unforgivable Curses (Harry Potter), the ministry of magic is high-key a sketchy place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24387775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckybarton/pseuds/luckybarton
Summary: Notes that were never meant to be read together, pulled from the same wastepaper bin. Simultaneous competence and incompetence is, as always, the Ministry of Magic's calling card.Or,"Just write down ‘he had an aneurysm’ and move on."
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	something more forgivable

This is a response to the request from a senior minister to devise a 'forgivable' alternative to the Imperio curse. The request has been denied. Imperio’s effect on a person’s autonomy is the core reason for its classification—not only its long term effects, as insinuated.

We would like to offer the Minister some suggested reading to clarify any doubt and suggest alternative pathways. The list is attached, should the Minister require it; it mainly consists of court cases brought to the Wizengamot involving the use of Imperio.

The Minister should note that the short length of the list is not indicative of a lack of challenge to the status of Imperio, but the level of respect of the existing precedent. We would encourage him not to push further.

Sincerely,  
Agatha Barnett  
Department of Magical Development

* * *

I don’t know why they want to fight this so hard. We need access to their specific records to work out if a Healer could’ve done that. To be honest, we should have access anyway. The Ministry should have a record of medical spells. What if their library burns? It’s just ridiculous. I hate this.

***

For what it’s worth, if St. Mungo’s burns, they share knowledge with other wizarding hospitals. We could get it back.

***

That’s even worse. Some unscrupulous foreign government might understand what St. Mungo’s can do—but we, an arm of the Ministry of Magic, do not. The trust is in all the wrong places. You must understand that.

***

You’re not particular friends with the Minister for Magic. You’re one of the most inwardly critical Aurors. The suit you want to start is over a spell that causes a person’s brain to bleed. A spell you don’t know exists. Just write down ‘he had an aneurysm’ and move on.

***

Moving on isn’t my style. I thought you would know that by now.

***

I hope I’ll see you later, then.

* * *

**Objective:** Spell creating the appearance of the Cruciatus Curse while not causing pain.

 **Rationale:** Appearing to torture a suspect’s compatriots may cause them to divulge information that they otherwise would not have. On the surface level, this is not torture. While we may not use a spell like this, we cannot combat similar spells if we do not have one in our arsenal. Therefore, we must develop one.

 **Experiment summary:**  
**First attempt:** Swish and twirl, ‘Cruciextas’, drawing from Greenbow’s Illusions. Curse is too easy to break through with force of will and is unusable in practise.

 **Second attempt:** Minor rightward rotation, ‘Cruciextas’, drawing from Haskell’s Manual of Hexes. Spell causes intense pain and does not fulfil requirements. Marked.

 **Third, fourth, and fifth attempts:** Minor deviations on first attempt to augment the work of a Metamorphagus. Functional in practise, but does not fulfil requirements for identifying defenses. Experiments stopped. Marked.

 **Sixth attempt:** Upwards movement. ‘Cruciextas’. Effect localised on subject’s hand; experience found intensely psychologically distressing by subject. Suggests that non-torturous method is not in fact available.

**Further experiments were planned, but project support was pulled midway through the proposal of the seventh.**

* * *

**Action Report by Auror Millicent Farrow**

**Location:** Intersection of Diagon Alley and Greyhawke Row.  
**Time:** 15:42 Wednesday 11 June 2008  
**Summary:** Arrest of known neo-Death Eater Austin Lang for assault during a routine patrol.

**Report:**

I and my partner, Auror John Easton, had been assigned a routine patrol through the Diagon Alley area. We had already made our route several times that day. My shift was due to end in an hour and I had expected it to be my last task for the day. As we made the turn into Greyhawke Row, John was hit from behind by a spell I do not recognise. The light from the wand was red fading into blue. It held him to the ground. His face was held in a scream, but I couldn’t hear anything. It was as if being in the radius of the spell had rendered my ears useless. I located the assailant in time to shout—or I think I shouted—Expelliarmus. It worked, in any case. The spell was released as soon as the wand had left his grasp. The world felt so suddenly loud when my hearing instantaneously returned, but I got the perpetrator into a hold. When we brought him to the station, he was identified as Austin Lang, a known ‘neo-Death Eater’—someone who claims affiliation with Death Eaters but has no such demonstrable ties.

On Lang’s person, we found carbon-copies of what appeared to be documents marked as originating from the Ministry of Magic, detailing spells including the one I recognised as the one that was used on John. The department in question was the Department of Magical Development. I suggest that an inquest is made into the legitimacy of these documents—and how they made their way into the hands of a criminal such as Lang.

Millicent Farrow  
Wednesday 11 June 2008


End file.
